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'Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.'- Angela Carter

Sunday, 12 March 2017

BLOG TOUR: Masquerade - Laura Lam

IT'S FINALLY HERE! If you've been following my blog from the start, then you know I've been a huge fan of Laura Lam's Micah Grey series and how sad I was when Strange Chemistry went under. Since then, Laura's published the amazing False Hearts with Tor and now we will finally have the third and final book in the Micah Grey trilogy. Following on from Pantomimeand Shadowplay, the trilogy will finally be complete and I am so excited! So without further ado, here is a snippet from Masquerade with an explanation of the research behind it from Laura:

The Fete at the
Palace

I couldn’t believe I
was able to go to the Snakewood Palace for one of their summer fetes, Winnie. I
wish you could have been there to see it. It was the most magnificent display
I’d ever seen in my life, and I don’t know how any celebration could ever top
it. But it must be possible, for this was just a “small party”, as they kept
calling it, not a birthday or other grand event. But the food, and the glass
globes, the music, the gowns! It made our debutante ball at Sicion’s Ballroom
look like little more than a country hall with some garlands thrown about. I
still can’t believe my luck. When no one offered for me after the debutante
ball, I thought my life was over. But now I’m lady’s maid to my cousin, and
perhaps here at court I’ll find myself a husband after all!

— Letter from Lady
Tara Cypress to Lady Winifred Poplar

Every chapter in the Micah Grey
series has a short found document at the start, ranging from a variety of
sources: history books, diaries, songs, poetry, and more. It’s basically a
sneaky way to add in more worldbuilding and detail about Ellada & the
Archipelago.

Micah Grey, when he went by the
name of Lady Iphigenia Laurus, lived a life of privilege as the daughter of a
noble family. Tutors, music lessons, debutante balls—the works. Yet this life
didn’t fit, and so Micah ran away to join the circus in book one, as you do.
Lady Tara Cypress was someone he knew in his previous life. She’s very much
embracing that world she was raised in, but I’m hoping in this excerpt, a hint
of desperation is creeping through. Tara and Winifred have been raised with
expectations, and there’s the fear of not fitting in and having those
milestones slip by. There’s of course more to both of these women than the
yearning for a husband, but in this world, as in the Victorian era, a mate is
fairly essential for financial security, with love often not factored into the
equation at all.

If you buy Pantomime
or Masquerade & send your receipt
to Laura, you can claim a free 10k short story, “The Mechanical Minotaur,” set
in the same world. If you buy all three, you can claim 60k of free fiction as
well. More
details here.

About the Author

Laura Lamwas raised near San Francisco,
California, by two former Haight-Ashbury hippies. Both of them encouraged her
to finger-paint to her heart's desire, colour outside the lines, and consider
the library a second home. This led to an overabundance of daydreams. She
relocated to Scotland to be with her husband, whom she met on the internet when
he insulted her taste in books. She almost blocked him but is glad she didn't.
At times she misses the sunshine.

‘Pantomime by
Laura Lam took me to an exotic and detailed world, peopled by characters that
I'd love to be friends with . . . and some I'd never want to cross paths with’
Robin Hobb on Pantomime

“A fantastical, richly drawn, poignant take on a classic coming-of-age
story . . . a vibrant tale told with surety and grace” Leigh Bardugo author of
The Grisha Trilogy